Category: Uncategorized

Secure Communication

This is likely POSSIBLE.  And it looks like we’re getting there.

A Key Role for Quantum Entanglement

The article’s opening paragraph:

“A method known as quantum key distribution has long held the promise of communication security unattainable in conventional cryptography. An international team of scientists, including ETH physicists, has now demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, an approach to quantum key distribution that uses high-​quality quantum entanglement to provide much broader security guarantees than previous schemes.”

WE SHOULD JUST DO SCIENCE.  TOO BAD WE’RE JUST AS WIRED FOR KILLING.  BUT THAT’S NOT ONLY “LIFE” BUT THE ESSENCE OF EXISTENCE.  EAT, BE EATEN OR SLOWLY JUST WITHER.

To Buy Back or Not

From Bloomberg:

“Investors are bracing for a crucial stretch that will signal whether Corporate America is starting to stockpile cash for insurance against a cooling economy rather than using it to bolster shareholder returns.”

‘“To the degree that companies either reduce or don’t announce additional share buybacks, that may remove a key source of demand for US equity markets the next several months,” said Michael Sheldon, chief investment officer at RDM Financial Group-Hightower.

If companies don’t take advantage of lower stock prices to buy back shares ‘despite having strong cash flows, that could be a red flag and signal that business outlooks are deteriorating,’ he said.”

Meanwhile, over in the OIL PATCH and ENERGY SPHERE more broadly, it’s full speed ahead with BUYBACKS.

Is the ENERGY SECTOR’s current enthusiasm over buybacks a FUNCTION OF GREED or shrewd, opportunistic THINKING?

To me, the WHOLE CONCEPT of BUYBACKS is CEO GREED ON STEROIDS as it’s meant to goose share prices which has become the key ELEMENT in EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.

Even as the EQUITY MARKET gets ARTIFICIALLY PUMPED, and corporations are WEAKENED by TAKING ON MORE DEBT to FINANCE THOSE BUYBACKS.

So, whether this is a “PRUDENT TIME” for energy companies to BUY BACK THEIR SHARES isn’t, FOR ME, the point.

I SEE BUYBACKS AS A BAD IDEA, PERIOD.

London Power Prices Spike 5,000%

From Javier Blas at Bloomberg via ZH:

“London’s power grid was pushed to the brink of failure following last week’s record-breaking heatwave. “

“British utilities had trouble pulling from other power-generating sources on the grid. They relied on Belgium via undersea water cables across the English Channel to increase power supply — boosting power prices to a record high of £9,724.54 (about $11,685) per megawatt hour. This is more than 5,000% versus average power prices of £178 (about $215) per megawatt hour.”

“Congested power grids suggest the UK is sleepwalking into more [of] what could be worsening blackouts. Grid troubles emerge before winter as parts of Europe have very tight natural gas storage.”

HOW QUICKLY THE NARRATIVE HAS CHANGED FROM CLEAN ENERGY TO ANY ENERGY.  THIS IS THE ANGLE ZEALOTS AND UTOPIANS ROUTINELY MISS.  UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES LEADING TO UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.